FBI Profilers to Probe Guantanamo Suspects

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 9 — The FBI has sent a team of behavioral
scientists to create psychological profiles of suspected al Qaeda
imprisoned at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, senior
U.S. counterterrorism officials say.

The effort is aimed at helping agency directors and field agents
understand the new generation of young terrorists who have been
recruited by the group blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We are trying to get more cultural knowledge and get into the
minds of radical fundamentalists," said one official, speaking on
condition of anonymity.

The results of the interviews will be compiled, analyzed at FBI
headquarters and shared with the CIA and the National Security
Agency, the official said.

The behavioral scientists have full access to those suspected of
being al Qaeda members and are asking questions designed to uncover
the detainees' personal histories, why they joined forces with the
terrorist group and how they view the United States.

Another law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of
anonymity, said several detainees already have been profiled.
The profiling is still under way and the results have not been
used in any law enforcement effort.

U.S. intelligence efforts initiated after Sept. 11 indicate
al Qaeda stepped up its recruiting efforts during the past decade.
The profiles would be used for developing ways to disrupt
recruitment and in hunting terrorists within the United States.

"This is an important piece of our plan to look beyond today
and tomorrow and think about preventing attacks even further down
the line," the official said.

The United States is holding 564 people at the base in
Guantanamo Bay, most of whom were captured in Afghanistan. How much
valuable information has been gleaned from them is unclear.

It's not the first time the United States has attempted to
profile prisoners of war. Government contractors conducted similar
interviews with Viet Cong prisoners during the Vietnam War and
enemy soldiers in the Korean War.

That data was used for propaganda pamphlets dropped over enemy
cities aimed at undermining support, according to several
researchers.

Some experts who study terrorism say the government must develop
a better understanding of young Islamic extremists. They say the
population is growing because of an ongoing backlash against
globalization and Western culture.

"We've seen an enormous rise in Islamic extremism in the
young," said Emilio Viano, a terrorism expert and professor at
American University. "We are seeing the rejection of the Western
world — an attempt to find an identity in a world that has been
denied to them. Al Qaeda offers religion, nationalism and a way to
strike back against feeling powerless against the United States."

The law enforcement official also said the profiling effort was
aimed at fostering a better understanding of what the "Sunni side
of radical fundamentalism is about."

The two major factions of Islam are Sunni and Shia. Al Qaeda is
led by Sunni Muslims.

U.S. counterterrorism has its roots in combatting Shiite
fundamentalism in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Al Qeida leader Osama bin Laden is credited with giving rise to
anti-U.S. extremism among Sunnis in the early 1990s, gaining
allegiance from groups in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

While the number of formal al Qaeda members has remained fairly
constant at about 200 since 1990, the fruits of that recruitment
have led to a large increase in the number of young men who are
willing to carry out directives from the group.

Stephen Zunes, a professor at the University of San Francisco,
said he was skeptical of the government's profiling effort and
doubted it would lead to any change in efforts to deal with
extremists.

"Much of the public comment from the government has reflected
the idea that they hate us because of our freedom and democracy,"
Zunes said. "I'm as proud as any American but the unfortunate
truth is they are angered by a policy in the region, which has
nothing to do with freedom and democracy. I don't think the
profiling will lead to a better understanding of that by the
government. They don't want to acknowledge it."

— The Associated Press

Moussaoui Sought Minnesota Crop-Dusting Program

S T. P A U L, Minn., Aug. 9 — Barely two weeks before his arrest
outside an Eagan hotel, Zacarias Moussaoui inquired about the
University of Minnesota's crop-dusting program, according to the
St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The newspaper reported today that Moussaoui e-mailed the
university's Crookston campus on July 31, 2001, seeking information
on a "short course you offer to become a crop duster (6 month, 1
years max.)."

Moussaoui is a former Norman, Okla., resident charged as a
conspirator in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Moussaoui made a fleeting reference to the e-mail in a court
filing late last month in Alexandria, Va., where he is representing
himself against charges he conspired with Osama bin Laden and
others to plot the attacks.

Moussaoui, who faces the death penalty, has said he is a loyal
member of al Qaeda but denies a role in Sept. 11 attacks.

In the e-mail, Moussaoui said he was in the United States
working toward a commercial pilot's license and that he hoped
someday to start a crop-dusting business in Morocco or France. His
message also asked for advice on setting up such a business, the
Pioneer Press reported.

"I am interested to know what type of aircraft, material,
equipment, something in detail, a kind of business plan," he
wrote.

Larry Leake, director of the university's agricultural aviation
program, said he didn't pay much attention to the note. The writer,
who identified himself only as "Zacarias," was looking for a much
shorter course than the university's two- and four-year programs.

"We didn't have what he was looking for," Leake told the
newspaper, "so I just sort of disregarded it."

Authorities have said crop-dusting information was found on
Moussaoui's computer after his August arrest. Officials later twice
grounded all crop-dusting planes following the attacks.

Immediately after Sept. 11, federal agents talked to Leake as
part of their nationwide canvassing of flight schools. The e-mail
never came up, because Leake said he didn't know whom it was from
until agents discovered Leake's name in a notebook or computer file
of Moussaoui's. When agents contacted Leake a second time, he
provided a copy of the e-mail.

The Pioneer Press reported that Moussaoui used the same e-mail
account and screen name he used when corresponding with Airman
Flight School in Norman in the fall of 2000. He arrived there in
February 2001 and logged nearly 60 hours of flight time but never
flew solo and left after two months without earning a license.

Moussaoui arrived in Minnesota about Aug. 12 to train on a
747-400 jet simulator owned by Northwest Airlines and administered
by Pan Am International Flight Academy in Eagan.

Flight school officials have said Moussaoui was unqualified for
the training he requested. They described him as insistent on
learning how to steer a jetliner in the air rather than how to take
off and land. His behavior prompted a school official to contact
the FBI and Moussaoui was taken into custody Aug. 15, before
logging any simulator time.

He was booked into the Sherburne County Jail on an immigration
charge two days later and stayed there until Sept. 14, when federal
authorities transferred him to a New York City detention center.

— The Associated Press

Appeal Over Disclosure of Detainee’s Names

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 9 — The Bush administration is appealing a judge's
order that the Justice Department must reveal the names of all
those held in the investigation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Federal attorneys are also asking for a temporary stay of the
order, which would allow the government to keep the names secret
until after the appeal.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled last week that the
Justice Department has not proven the need for a blanket policy of
secrecy about more than 1,000 people picked up since the jetliner
attacks.
In the documents filed late Thursday, the government said that
Kessler had missed the point about keeping the names secret.
Kessler ordered the government to release the names in 15 days,
in part because she rejected the Justice Department's argument that
it would tip al Qaeda to the extent of the U.S. investigation.
In her opinion, she said that al Qaeda would likely already be
aware of all those cell members who have been captured by the
United States.
But government lawyers argued in court documents that many of
those detained are not believed to be al Qaeda members, but rather
were illegal immigrants who were suspected of having knowledge of
terrorist activities.
Therefore, releasing the names would give al Qaeda significant
information that it might not already have, the government argued.
"While some information may have been available to our enemies,
a compendium of the entire universe of information regarding the
identities of detainees has never been provided, much less
officially confirmed," the government said in its notice of
appeal.
The ruling by Kessler did provide for exceptions to the release
of names: if an individual detainee objects or if the government
can show that separate court orders prohibit release of information
about someone held as a material witness in a terrorism
investigation.
A material witness allegedly has substantial information about a
crime but is not charged with it. Such witnesses may be arrested,
but they may not be held indefinitely.
Those arrested apparently are all foreign citizens, and many
have been charged with immigration violations. Some have already
been deported.
The department has said nearly 1,200 people were swept up by
federal, state and local authorities following the September
attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon that took
more than 3,000 lives.
The government disclosed that 752 people were arrested or
detained on immigration charges between Sept. 11 and June 24.
Others were held on different charges.
In late June, the Justice Department reported that at least 147
people still were being held, including 74 on charges involving
immigration infractions. Prosecutors have not said how many people
are being held as material witnesses.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau
announced the promotion Thursday, two days after Fort
Lauderdale-based Spirit Airlines said it would offer free flights
on Sept. 11.

Visitors to the Fort Lauderdale area carrying an airline ticket
and booked for at least two nights at one of the county's 38
participating hotels, can stay the night of Sept. 11 for free,
officials said.

Customers snapped up the free seats being offered by Spirit
Airlines in eight hours, officials said.

Spirit's offer was a response to travelers' reluctance to fly on
the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

American and United, the nation's two biggest carriers, have
said they are cutting back their Sept. 11 flight schedules based on
weak bookings. No. 3 Delta is trimming flights for the entire work
week of Sept. 9-13. Several European airlines also have canceled
flights to the United States on Sept. 11.

— The Associated Press

Oscar Mulls a Move to New York

N E W Y O R K, Aug. 9 — Could Oscar be coming to New York?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a group of
New York leaders have been talking about moving part of next year's
Academy Awards show to New York City to help the city recover from
the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

The group of New Yorkers — including Gov. George Pataki, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and Miramax Films Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein —
asked the academy to consider bringing at least a portion of the
March 23 event to New York.

"New York City is the entertainment capital of the world and
there's no better way to demonstrate that than to hold the premier
event in show business," Bloomberg administration spokesman Edward
Skyler told The Associated Press today.

The academy is seriously considering the idea as a one-time nod
to New York, academy President Frank Pierson told The New York
Times and the Los Angeles Times.

He said an early proposal from Weinstein to move the entire show
to New York was "out of the question" because the show is a
Hollywood staple and because of the academy's contractual
obligations.

But "New York will be a huge presence in next year's show," he
said. "America wouldn't be America without New York and the movie
business wouldn't be the movie business without New York. Just like
the movies, it's part of our culture and our lives."

He said any decisions would have to come after a producer is
selected for next year's show, most likely by next month.

The Oscars ceremony returned to Hollywood last year for the
first time since 1960, to its new home at the Kodak Theatre. For
years the event was held at the Shrine Auditorium and the Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles.